The final night of the Democratic National Convention featured some of Joe Biden's fiercest primary rivals and women who had lost out to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as his running mate.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., one of Biden's leading candidates for vice presidential nominee, the first mother to give birth while serving in the Senate and a wounded U.S. veteran, lobbed the harshest criticism of President Donald Trump, calling him the "coward in chief" for American troops:
"They have a coward in chief who won't stand up to Vladimir Putin, read his daily briefings, or even admonish adversaries for putting bounties on our troops' heads.
"As president, Joe Biden would never let tyrants manipulate him like a puppet. He would never pervert our military to stroke his own ego. He would never turn his back on our troops or threaten them against Americans peacefully exercising their constitutional rights.
"Joe Biden would stand up for what's right, stand tall for our troops, and stand strong against our enemies because unlike Trump, Joe Biden has commonsense. Donald Trump doesn't deserve to call himself commander in chief for another four minutes, let alone another four years. Our troops deserve better. Our country deserves better."
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who reportedly spent $500 million on a failed primary campaign, fired at Trump from a billionaire's perspective:
"When confronted with the biggest calamity any president has faced in the modern era, Donald Trump spent the year downplaying the threat, ignoring science and recommending quack cures which let COVID-19 spread must faster than it should have, leaving hundreds of thousands needlessly sick or dead. He's failed the American people catastrophically.
"Four years ago I came before this convention and said, 'New Yorkers know a con when we see one.' But tonight I'm not asking you to vote against Donald Trump because he's a bad guy. I'm urging you to vote against him because he's done a bad job. ...
"Would you work for or rehire someone who ran your business into the ground?
"Why the hell would we ever rehire Donald Trump for another four years? ...
"So when Trump says he wants to make America great again, he's making a pretty good case for Joe Biden."
Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke about his primary candidacy as a gay candidate:
"The day I was born, the idea of an out candidate seeking any federal office at all was laughable. Yet earlier this year, I campaigned for the presidency often with my husband at my side winning delegates to this very convention. Now I come to this convention proudly supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris."
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, another popular vice presidential candidate, levied a rebuke of alleged voter suppression:
"There are those who are disgracefully using this pandemic to spread misinformation and interfere with voting, forcing many in 2020 to still risk their lives to exercise their sacred right to vote — a right that has already been paid for with the blood, sweat, tears, and lives of so many.
"So let's stand up for our children, our children's children, and for this great democracy that our ancestors worked to build, and let's vote."
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., made a call for raising the minimum wage on behalf of Biden and Harris:
"[Trump] has failed us. But, still, I believe in the dream of our ancestors. Together, with Joe and Kamala in the White House, we'll raise the minimum wage so no one who works a full-time job in America lives in poverty."
Leading off, California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a message near the wildfires in his state, selling the DNC on climate change:
"Just today, the president of the United States threatened the state of California, 40 million Americans that happened to live here in the state of California, to defund our efforts on wildfire suppression because he said we hadn't raked enough leaves. You can't make that up."
Next up was former Democratic presidential primary candidate Andrew Yang, the leader of the Yang Gang movement and the creator of the "freedom dividend" proposal who vowed to give Americans $1,000 a month as a universal basic income.
"If you voted for Trump or didn't vote at all in 2016, I get it. Many of us have gotten tired of our leaders seeming far removed from our every day lives and despair our government will ever rise to the challenges of our time, but we must give this country, our country, a chance to recover.
"And recovery is only possible with a change in leadership and new ideas. Bold, innovative policies that will get help into your hands in the midst of this crisis are now possible."
Introducing their father, Hunter and Ashley Biden spoke of their father's character, before leaving it to the late Beau Biden in a clip from a previous DNC introduction:
"He'll never let you down ... the strongest shoulder you could ever lean on ... He'll get up no matter how many times he's knocked down ... the best friend you've ever had ... he's been a great father ... Beau isn't with us anymore ... 2008 and 2012 he introduced our dad ... So before we show you a film ... we wanted to give Beau the last word.
(A clip of Beau's speech at a past DNC)
"My father, my hero, Joe Biden."
To cap the night, Joe Biden is set to make his case for his White House candidacy from Wilmington, Delaware, as he accepts the Democratic nomination in his third bid for the presidency.
Other speakers included Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.